That's correct.
Evidence of meeting #143 for Fisheries and Oceans in the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was mussels.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Evidence of meeting #143 for Fisheries and Oceans in the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was mussels.
A recording is available from Parliament.
4:50 p.m.
Conservative
Mel Arnold Conservative North Okanagan—Shuswap, BC
When dealing with federal waters under federal jurisdiction, if they're salmon-bearing streams...?
4:50 p.m.
Conservative
Mel Arnold Conservative North Okanagan—Shuswap, BC
Okay. Thank you.
So much information has come in on this...even though I've been following it for a number of years and that's why I put this study forward.
We have four different provinces represented here. What sort of interaction is there from province to province? Do you know whether there is a sharing of information of risks, of the vectors for the transport of these aquatic invasives back and forth?
4:50 p.m.
Program Manager, Shuswap Watershed Council
We're not a provincial organization, but we work closely with provincial staff at the B.C. Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change Strategy. I know that they work with the Canada Border Services Agency and have received notification of watercraft coming from infested jurisdictions.
I know that the Province of B.C. is also working with the Province of Alberta on something called a passport program, whereby watercraft owners who travel back and forth frequently proceed through the inspection process in a more streamlined method. In order to receive a passport, they also need to have been quite well educated on the topics, specifically of zebra and quagga mussels and what the risks are.
4:50 p.m.
Conservative
4:50 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Ken McDonald
Yes, and that concludes this portion of our committee meeting for this afternoon.
I want to say a big thank you to our guests, who have appeared both by video conference and in person.
I'll suspend now for a couple of minutes just to change out witnesses and get ready for the next portion of the meeting.
Thank you, everyone.
5 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Ken McDonald
We'll get started again on the next portion of our session for today.
We have witnesses in person, we have witnesses by video conference and a witness by teleconference.
We have here in person, from the Canadian Electricity Association, Mr. David Stanley, senior environmental specialist, Ontario Power Generation, as well as Michael Powell, director of government relations. Welcome. From the Miramichi Salmon Association Incorporated, we have Mr. Mark Hambrook, president. It's good to see you again, sir.
By video conference, from New Brunswick Invasive Species Council, we have Paula Noel, volunteer member. From the Rural Municipalities of Alberta, we have Al Kemmere, president. By teleconference, from the Central Kootenay Invasive Species Society, we have Erin Bates, executive director.
We'll start off with Ms. Bates.
In case we get a problem with the connection, we'll at least try to get to hear your testimony. When you're ready, you have seven minutes or less, please.
5 p.m.
Erin Bates Executive Director, Central Kootenay Invasive Species Society
Thank you so much for having me today.
The Central Kootenay Invasive Species Society is a regional invasive species organization in the interior of British Columbia. We have a mission to protect ecosystems and communities by preventing and reducing the harmful impacts of invasive species. We work in the Central Kootenay region where we collaborate with many different landowners and stakeholders to deliver outreach, prevention and management programs.
Since 2012, CKISS—which is our acronym, and I'm going to use it instead of our full name—has taken a strong regional role in coordinated AIS programs, including coordinating the Canadian Columbia basin regional aquatic invasive species program and participating on the 100th Meridian Initiative Columbia River basin team.
Aquatic invasive species—or AIS, as I'm going to call them—such as zebra and quagga mussels cause a wide range of economic, environmental and social harm, and this has been well documented. The potential economic impact of zebra and quagga mussels—or ZQM as we tend to refer to them—to hydro power, agricultural irrigation, municipal water supplies and recreational boating in B.C. has been estimated at $43 million per year.
Aquatic invasive species such as ZQM have been implicated in vast reductions or outright extinction of indigenous fish populations where they have become established. ZQM infestations are apparently permanent and irreversible, and no method, technology or natural predator exists to remove the invasive mussels once they've been established in a water body.
Unfortunately, zebra and quagga mussels are steadily spreading westward from their original introduction in eastern North America with the most recent infestation found in Montana in 2016. The Government of Montana estimates that direct mitigation costs and revenue lost to affected stakeholders will be $234 million per year, and that includes agriculture, hydro power, drinking water, recreation and property values.
The risk of AIS introductions, especially ZQM, to British Columbian waters is escalating rapidly, primarily due to human-caused factors that include water-based recreation and travel. Invasive mussel-fouled watercraft—watercraft that have been found to have veligers, basically zebra or quagga mussel eggs on them—have been found destined for B.C. waters since 2011. Between 2015 and 2018, the B.C. invasive mussel defence program's watercraft inspection stations intercepted 82 watercraft that were fouled with invasive mussels. It only takes one watercraft transporting live mussels to cause permanent, biological pollution in a water body, so the fact that any contaminated watercraft has been destined to launch within B.C. emphasizes the importance of an extensive and comprehension zebra and quagga mussel prevention program.
The threat of ZQM establishment in Central Kootenay is very great, as all the water bodies in the Columbia basin have been assigned a high to very high risk status for the survival and subsequent invasion of zebra and quagga mussels. We believe that invasive mussels are the number one threat to our region and to B.C., and not enough is being done to protect our resources. As far as we know, there isn't a lot of action currently by the Canadian government.
This is an emergency situation. Provincial governments in western Canada, including B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan and the Yukon, have begun to take a coordinated approach. They've developed the invasive mussel prevention framework for western Canada. While this has led to increased monitoring and inspections, without involvement from the federal government, it's most likely still a matter of when, and not if, we might get invasive mussels in B.C. We really need federal support and action on the ground along with effectively enforced regulations to keep invasive mussels out of our province.
We would like to see more action by the federal government as follows.
We strongly feel that the Canada Border Services Agency should be inspecting all watercraft entering Canada from the United States at ground entry ports with best current practices. The agency should also be conducting full decontamination of any invasive mussel-fouled watercraft before they're permitted to enter into Canada.
We would love to see more active participation on and support in international and interprovincial working groups and programs, including the 100th Meridian Initiative.
We would also love to see long-term, sustainable federal funding to support prevention, monitoring, education and outreach efforts.
On behalf of the CKISS, we thank you very much for this opportunity to provide input and for your time.
5:05 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Ken McDonald
Thank you, Ms. Bates, for that.
We'll now go to Paula Noel from New Brunswick Invasive Species Council. When you are ready, you have seven minutes or less, please.
5:05 p.m.
Paula Noel Volunteer Member, New Brunswick Invasive Species Council
First of all, thank you to the honourable members for this opportunity.
As you say, I'm representing the New Brunswick Invasive Species Council today. We are a volunteer-run group that formed in 2009, with support from the invasive alien species partnership program. This was a federal program that built capacity in the province to address invasive species.
Since the end of this program in 2012, there hasn't been funding available for coordinating activities on invasive species in New Brunswick. We do have aquatic invasive species already present in the province, and there are many poised to invade from nearby jurisdictions.
In New Brunswick, we have been lucky that there hasn't yet been a big disaster associated with invasive species in our freshwater systems. We do know that this is just a matter of time. With the recent introduction of the invasive aquatic plant, Eurasian water milfoil, we believe we are on the precipice of a dramatic ecosystem impact in the Saint John River system.
Eurasian water milfoil, which can grow so quickly it's called the zombie plant, can completely fill water bodies, to the point where no other plants or fish can use the habitat, and boats are unable to pass through the mat of plants. However, since Eurasian water milfoil was found in the watershed in 2017, there has been virtually no response to this introduction. There have been no attempts to contain, eradicate or even educate boaters using these waterways on how they can help to prevent spreading this species faster within the Saint John River watershed, or to other waterways in the province, by cleaning plant material off boats and trailers.
Introductions can be prevented by engaging citizens and giving them the equipment and tools they need to clean, drain and dry their boats and equipment. The New Brunswick Invasive Species Council, in partnership with the Canadian Council on Invasive Species, has applied for funding to roll out a program to do just that. We hope to be able to start filling that gap. We were happy to see that recent granting programs announced under the Canada Nature Fund recognized invasive species as a priority threat to address. However, the primary focus of these funds is to work on species at risk.
This puts government staff in the challenging position of evaluating proposals to work directly on species at risk against proposals to prevent invasive species that may not have been found yet. Understandably, the species-at-risk work typically wins out. It is just human nature to care more about something that's right in front of us than something that might be in the future.
We believe that unless there is separate, dedicated funding to prevent and respond rapidly to invasive species, we are going to continue to see this pattern that we have now, virtually throughout the country, of responding after an invasion has happened and been let go long enough that it's having serious ecological and economic impacts.
The recent Auditor General report confirmed the importance of restricting and closing high-risk pathways. We believe governments can't do this alone. We need to work with people in communities and give them the knowledge and tools they need to prevent spread. Many of these species are unintentionally moved around on boats and equipment by people who don't understand the potential damage they are doing.
We would like to see leadership from DFO. We need clarity on roles and responsibilities between federal government departments, and between DFO and the province.
In the case of the containment of smallmouth bass to Miramichi Lake, which has been ongoing for 10 years now, local salmon groups and indigenous groups have had to step into a leadership role and invest tens of thousands of dollars into research, to make a case for eradication of this species.
If zebra and quagga mussels were to be discovered in New Brunswick tomorrow, I am not confident that there would be any plan in place to respond, despite what we know about the serious impacts these species have and how important it is to act quickly if we want to have a chance of eradicating them before they spread.
Aquatic invasive species regulations that were reduced in 2015 prohibit unauthorized introduction of aquatic species where they are non-indigenous. What is lacking in those regulations, however, is the ability of conservation officers to lay charges when naturalized invasive species are moved around within a province. If someone were to take smallmouth bass from the Saint John River watershed and move that fish into the Miramichi basin, there is currently nothing that conservation officers could do about that.
Finally, enforcement is not just about compliance with laws and regulations, but also about educating and engaging Canadians. Invasions are usually spotted first by informed and alert citizens.
It's far cheaper to prevent than to manage invasive species after they've been introduced. We need to protect New Brunswick's aquatic habitat.
We can never be aware of all risks. Even with the best science there will always be the unexpected. Focusing on pathways to prevent introductions is the best investment in engaging Canadians and restricting pathways, and engaging Canadians in spotting new invasives. When invasives that we know have had major impacts in other regions of the country are spotted, we need to have rapid response plans in place with funding to execute them. We need local groups to be able to engage Canadians in their communities.
Invasive species councils across the country like the one in New Brunswick need to be supported to implement proven tools like the national pathways programs that the Canadian Council on Invasive Species is developing. We need a national database where Canadians can report invasive species when they find them.
Education and outreach will be the best investment and will save the high cost of dealing with invasions after the fact.
I thank you all for looking into this important issue.
5:10 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Ken McDonald
Thank you, Ms. Noel.
We'll go now to the Rural Municipalities of Alberta with Mr. Kemmere for seven minutes or less, please.
5:10 p.m.
Al Kemmere President, Rural Municipalities of Alberta
Thank you and good afternoon, everybody. It's great to see you gathering together to try to get a good understanding of our perspective on this.
I am Al Kemmere. I'm a councillor in Mountain View County and president of the Rural Municipalities of Alberta. For those of you who don't know Alberta very well, Mountain View County is dead centre in the middle of the province. RMA or Rural Municipalities of Alberta covers the whole province—north to south, east to west, touching the Northwest Territories and down to the American border. Under the jurisdiction of our members, we cover about 85% of the provincial land mass. That includes 75% of Alberta's roads and 60% of Alberta's bridges.
I think we're all gathered here to talk about the situation of the aquatic invasive species and the different types that it covers. Aquatic invasive species is an issue that impacts communities throughout Canada. Though we recognize the impact of the problem, the species of concern are diverse and vary right across the various regions of the province. In Alberta, a number of species are of considerable concern, including fish, invertebrates, plants and diseases.
We are hearing from our members and from the Government of Alberta that the species of greatest concern are the two types of mussels: the quagga and the zebra mussels. These mussels are of significant concern for our municipalities. First, they can harm municipally owned and operated assets that serve a community interest. These mussels can attach themselves to infrastructure such as water pipes, irrigation pipes and other underwater structures. They will virtually choke them down to the point of non-productive value.
Anecdotally, we have heard from other municipalities in Canada that have had to spend millions of dollars on their water plants to combat these species. We want to do what we can to avoid those costs. For most municipalities in Alberta, this would be an unbearable cost and it would cause severe harm to their ongoing sustainability. The maintenance cost alone is projected to be $75 million per year to protect or replace the infrastructure that is threatened by the species.
A second point of concern in rural municipalities is that many of our municipalities are home to irrigation. I do have to pat the irrigation sector on the back. They're doing tremendous work to try to mitigate the amount of seepage and evaporation that takes place in their systems by putting pipelines in the ground to transmit their water. However, if we do not do something, these infrastructure pieces that they've put in will be choked down similarly and it will limit the access of irrigation water. It will also limit the access of municipalities to the water that is coming through that system.
The second concern for municipalities regards the impact to the natural ecosystem. While I'm not a scientist, the information brought to me is that these can have significant impacts on the health of the water bodies. These species will go through and eliminate the plankton and all the nutrients in lakes. It would result in algae blooms, which would impact the viability of the fish population within them. These impacts change how people in our communities use their water bodies for both recreation and tourism.
In Alberta, there are 52 prohibited species of plants, fish and diseases listed in the Fisheries Act, including the black, brown and yellow bullhead catfish, goldfish, whirling disease and the Asian tapeworm, to name a few. Other plants, like the flowering rush, are gradually taking over a lot of our lowlands and wetlands as they progress.
In Alberta, in part due to the advocacy of municipalities, our provincial government has established an aquatic invasive species program. To their credit, the government of Alberta program and the public information campaign have been well received—much better than we initially thought. Although it could always be bolstered with additional resources and capacity, there has been a strong response to the complex problem. The Alberta provincial program to combat aquatic invasive species focuses on all aquatic invasive plants, fish and invertebrates.
Given the potential economic impact of the spread of aquatic invasive species in Canada and Alberta, we must make sure that the response is at a national level, as this is such a significant task and we're all linked together. We must do what we can to protect all our water bodies.
This will require a national strategy. It's a strategy that should include prevention, eradication, cross-boundary collaboration and coordination so that we work on this together, province to province, countrywide and also with our neighbours to the south.
In regard to prevention, RMA has passed a resolution advocating a zero-tolerance policy on aquatic invasive species. This starts with a public awareness campaign that is targeted to commercial, industrial and recreational water users as well as being broadly presented to members of the public.
Mandatory inspection sites are also important. They must be strategically located at key points of entry and must make it impossible, or at the very least, very difficult, to bypass the stations. While we have had those stations in my province, they are not based in the most ideal places. This means drivers are going around these stations and avoiding the inspections.
We must also have a plan for the distribution, or guidelines for the allowing, of dumping of aquarium-type fish within our systems. This often seems to be at the root of some of our problems. Outside fish ponds need to be regulated so that we do not expose our drainage systems or our water systems to invasion by these species.
Without a good eradication, in cases where species have been identified, there must be a rapid response that focuses on eradication of that species in the water body and ongoing monitoring to ensure it doesn't emerge. I am not an expert on the tools for that, so I will leave it to you to understand that allowing any tolerances is not acceptable when it comes to identifying these species
Last, it is important that all provinces, territories and the federal government work together in a coordinated approach. Provincial programs, such as those in Alberta, are proving to be effective but they would be greatly aided by a coordinated response with other provincial and nationwide programs.
We recently submitted a letter to this committee regarding this cause. There is more detail provided in that letter. I thank you for allowing us to do that.
I want to thank the committee for putting its time and energy into this issue. It is not a small issue. It does take a good forward-looking approach to make sure we can do something to limit the invasion and to protect our water bodies. Thank you for that.
5:20 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Ken McDonald
Thank you, Mr. Kemmere.
We'll go now to the Canadian Electricity Association. I don't know if one person is speaking or if you're sharing your time, but go ahead, Michael, when you're ready. You have seven minutes or less.
5:20 p.m.
Michael Powell Director, Government Relations, Canadian Electricity Association
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I am Mike Powell. We are sharing our time today. Dave Stanley is joining me. He's a fisheries scientist with Ontario Power Generation.
Sustainability is a central focus of Canada's electricity sector. We think about it broadly, from emissions to watershed management and beyond.
Canada benefits from a natural clean power advantage. The Canadian electricity sector has reduced its GHG emissions by over 30% since 2005. Already, more than 80% of electricity in Canada is produced in non-emitting ways. Sixty per cent of this comes from hydroelectric power.
Hydro power produces virtually no greenhouse gases and its abundance in Canada makes our electricity system one of the cleanest and most renewable in the world. It's also exceptionally reliable and easily dispatched. It can and must play a central role in continuing to achieve Canada's climate change targets and to decarbonize other sectors.
Electrification of other sectors is necessary for moving toward a low-carbon economy. To have the electricity we will need to do this, expansion of hydro power and other clean energy sources will be essential. Therefore, we must make sure that our current and future systems are not jeopardized by external threats, such as aquatic invasive species. I'll also be saying “AIS” to solve the mouthful.
There are more than 400 hydro power-generating facilities in Canada. Most facilities were built decades ago without protection mechanisms in mind that would help limit the spread of invasive species, like zebra and quagga mussels. Invasive species also present maintenance challenges to other types of facilities as well, including nuclear and gas plants, and as we've heard, really any facility that has pipes in water.
I'll turn things over now to Dave, who can provide an operator's perspective on these matters.
5:20 p.m.
David Stanley Senior Environmental Specialist, Ontario Power Generation, Canadian Electricity Association
Hello, Mr. Chair and committee members. Thank you for having me today.
My name is Dave Stanley. I'm a senior environmental scientist with Ontario Power Generation.
OPG has a fleet of 66 hydro stations that can generate almost 7,500 megawatts of electricity. Further, not only are OPG's hydro power facilities impacted by AIS, but the challenges extend to other facilities such as our nuclear stations. As Mike alluded to, all water operators in the Great Lakes are highly impacted by the spread of AIS such as sea lamprey, round goby, the Asian carp and most famously, dreissenids like the zebra and quagga mussels.
This impact affects power generators like OPG and other utilities, municipal water intakes and industrial users. These invasive species add significant maintenance costs to OPG's operations and pose a safety issue for maintenance workers who are responsible for their removal and for retrofitting control measures on facilities. If left unchecked, AIS also pose significant risks to safety systems such as those for fire control.
No hydroelectric facilities currently in operation were built to handle the clogging of dreissenid mussels. Clogging typically occurs in the secondary water systems such as turbine cooling systems or fire water systems. OPG spends millions of dollars annually to manage this issue at six hydro stations and two nuclear stations, and management is the key word here. OPG is currently not holding out any hope that the spread of these species will be completely reversed. Instead, we look to control these species, to minimize their harm to the environment and our operations.
Control measures for dreissenids typically include the release of deleterious substances such as sodium hypochlorite into the waters to kill the invasive species. Unfortunately, despite industry's best efforts to reduce the use of biocides and limit their harm, they can damage aquatic environments and native species. That's why funding for further studies that explore safer and more environmentally friendly control alternatives is essential.
OPG has been a leader in using alternative control measures for dreissenids, but as they spread further across Canada, DFO needs to not only fund preventative measures but invest in alternative controls. Until cost-effective alternative measures are developed, DFO needs to allow for the use of biocides to control these species. As per DFO's interpretation of deleterious substances for the control of AIS in 2016, the use of chlorine is permitted by provincial and federal agencies to control these species, and this has to be continued.
Now on a good note, hydro plants can also help control AIS. Our industry also plays a role because occasionally hydro power producers must dewater the intakes or other water courses for repairs. In this process the operator drains the water course, relocates native species to alternative locations and disposes of the AIS humanely. The practice can significantly reduce the number of invasive species in local areas.
Hydro dams and water control structures also passively control AIS. Many AIS species such as lamprey, round goby and dreissenids cannot jump or are weak swimmers. If they can't migrate upstream of hydro facilities or water control dams, the facilities have an ancillary benefit of controlling the spread of AIS at no additional cost.
Further, where AIS are present downstream of a hydro dam, fish passage should not be required to further help prevent the upstream movement of AIS.
I'll turn it back over to Michael.
5:25 p.m.
Director, Government Relations, Canadian Electricity Association
Thanks, Dave.
As the committee considers this matter, we're offering a number of recommendations. There is a role for the federal government to play.
First, the government should lead studies on how to stop the spread or manage existing populations of aquatic invasive species in the least environmentally damaging way.
Secondly, government should provide equitable funding for all regions of Canada as invasive species have no boundaries, and the best control measure is to preclude their spread. Given that many AIS have yet to make their way into western provinces, funding should be allocated in these regions to help limit the potential spread, and monitoring programs should be funded so that they may be caught early should it arise. Facility retrofits can be part of this solution.
Thirdly, governments should maintain the ability to utilize biocides to reduce the spread of invasive species and ensure that all federal and provincial regulations are aligned and consistent in this matter.
Lastly, governments should strengthen awareness, enforcement and monitoring of threat factors such as shipping, personal watercraft and others to reduce the likelihood of new aquatic invasive species arriving or spreading in Canadian waters.
Thank you. We look forward to whatever questions you might have.
5:25 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Ken McDonald
Thank you.
Now for the last presentation we have Mr. Hambrook, for seven minutes or less, please.
5:25 p.m.
Mark Hambrook President, Miramichi Salmon Association Inc.
Thanks for inviting me here again.
I'd like to talk about a specific example of invasive species, small mouth bass in Miramichi Lake in the province of New Brunswick. We've been working on this file for 10 years.
I should say, first of all, that the Miramichi historically has the highest run of Atlantic salmon in North America. Over the years it has been assaulted by low sea survival, other predators—striped bass being one—and the growing seal population along our coast, to the point that whereas there used to be a 10% survival of young salmon going to the ocean who would come back as adults, now we're down to 2% or so. It's really affecting our communities, our rivers—and not only in the Miramichi but in all of eastern Canada.
Ten years ago, when we discovered smallmouth bass as an invasive species in our watershed, we all panicked. What can we do? We responded right away, put a barricade in at the mouth of Miramichi Lake and started searching for an action plan.
We consulted with the North American expert, a chap in California who basically gave us a blueprint of what to do. It involved applying rotenone, which is a compound derived from a root in South America. It will kill fish but not other species. When we went to DFO, they said no, sorry, this is illegal, and we said this can't be true because they're doing it every year in Quebec and in British Columbia and Alberta. Everywhere uses rotenone. Unfortunately the Maritimes had never signed an agreement with Ottawa for a shared jurisdiction and, therefore, it was illegal for use in our province. Regulations were therefore changed.
In the meantime, we were lobbying pretty hard for the rotenone application, and DFO came up with a plan. They said we will eradicate in three years by electrofishing. We'll put barricades in, we'll gillnet, we'll use spike nets—we'll use everything at our disposal to eradicate. Three years, it will take.
It's 10 years later and we still have juveniles, adults, and there is evidence now that maybe the fish are getting out of Miramichi Lake. It's from eDNA, which I don't know too much about and am not sure is very reliable. There seems to be an indication, however, that there may be some trickling out of this lake.
It has been 10 years, and now the legislation is passed and DFO has the authority to issue a licence for rotenone. We, therefore, went to DFO—and by the way, we commissioned the study at the Canadian Rivers Institute by this now retired expert from California, and we have a clear, legal, sound plan to eradicate smallmouth bass.
We presented it to DFO, who said, no, it can't be a proponent. It will be the regulator but someone else will have to take the lead. Our group thus formed, and we have our North Shore Micmac District Council as the leader of this now.
We've put an application in. It will be reviewed. It will probably take a year or so to look at it. There's no funding, by the way, for this. It will cost about a million dollars to eradicate, but the salmon sport fishing industry on the Miramichi is a $20 million a year industry, and it's going to be in jeopardy because once the invaders get into the system, they're just going to keep multiplying.
The irony is that this was an illegal introduction. If I run a bulldozer down the stream, I'm going to jail. They can enforce that, but put an invasive species in a waterway, which will change it forever, and we can't even lay a charge.
That, then is a difficulty. We need enforcement and we need a champion instead of a regulator. We need regulators too, but we also need to have a few champions. That's where DFO has to come to the forefront and say, yes, we have a problem here, and we're going to help you address it.
They don't have to do it. We'll be a proponent but we need help, not hindrance. That's the case in Miramichi Lake.
Thank you.
5:30 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Ken McDonald
Thank you, sir.
We'll go to the questioning now.
First off is Mr. Finnigan for seven minutes or less, please.
May 6th, 2019 / 5:30 p.m.
Liberal
Pat Finnigan Liberal Miramichi—Grand Lake, NB
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you to all the panel for being here on this very important study.
I'll start with you, of course, Mr. Hambrook. We've known each other for a while, and we're living in the same region of Miramichi. Of course, as you have seen in the last couple of weeks, the striped bass seem to be in a very healthy state at this time. We see all the boats there. They're catching a bunch of striped bass. Although they're not an invasive species, the problem is that the population has kind of exploded, and they do affect the salmon.
I'd like to go back to the smallmouth bass, which is an invasive species. They're not directly in the river, as we know, although there is some evidence, as you say, Mr. Hambrook, that they might be. What kind of damage would an escape and an establishment in the river do? You've been on the river a long time. To your mind, how much damage could that cause?
5:35 p.m.
President, Miramichi Salmon Association Inc.
I don't have to speculate because there are lots of examples of where smallmouth bass move into salmon rivers. Once they're there, they never leave. They do impact. As they get bigger, they will predate on young salmon, but they will also take the habitat that young salmon require to grow. In a watershed like the Miramichi, where we have some very cold water and high streams, maybe they'll not go there, but the main trunk of the rivers will be infested with smallmouth bass.
5:35 p.m.
Liberal
Pat Finnigan Liberal Miramichi—Grand Lake, NB
As you said, DFO has been looking at this for the past 10 years or however long it's been a problem there. They've been trying mechanical ways, I guess, to eradicate the bass in the lake and contain them. I remember how some 20 years ago in my backyard, in Despres Lake, which is also a tributary to the Miramichi Lake, they used rotenone to eradicate another invasive species that was brought in from another region. It was the pickerel, I think.
5:35 p.m.
Liberal
Pat Finnigan Liberal Miramichi—Grand Lake, NB
It worked beautifully, I think. It totally eradicated what was in that lake. It did work. Some of the concerns they've been bringing up involve the use of rotenone, which is usually in what they call “kettle” lakes, where there's not much flow outside. They're concerned that eventually rotenone will drain. Maybe it won't be effective anymore, but it will drain in the river. I've heard that concern, and also about the other species that might be there that are also part of the whole ecosystem. What would you answer to that?